Briquetting of coke by direct heating



March 4, was K BAUM 2,825,679

BRIQUETTiNG 0F COKE BY DIRECT HEATING Filed June 16, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet 1 i I Q I 1 i: 4- 1 b l i 14.,

lNViENTOR.

KU RT B-AUM H IS ATTORNEYS- March 4, 1958 I K. BAUM 2,825,619

BRIQUETTING OF COKE BY DIRECT HEATING Filed June 16, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTURNEY March 4, 1958 K. BAUM BRIQUETTING OF COKE BY DIRECT HEATING I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 16, 1953 lllll lllll.

llullkl. llll lllllll I I l r---- INVENTQR. -i

KURT BAUM IS ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 2,825,679 v l adatmterl Mar. 4, 19.5.8

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for the production of coke and especiallymetallurgical coke.

This is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 81,195, filed March 12, 1949, now abandoned, and of my application Serial No. 95,276, filed May 25, 1949,

now abandoned.

In the usual coking plants, in which the coal to be coked is heated indirectly, i. e. by heat conduction through the partitions of the coking chambers, relatively low daily outputs are obtained in each chamber, because heating is necessarily slow (rate of temperature rise ranging from 1 to 2 C. per minute). Furthermore, even if this rate ofv temperature rise duringheating of the coal to-be coked could be improved, the coke obtained would be too small and too brittle.

It is also known, in order to obtain fully degasified cokes, to submit to full coking treatment agglomerates at least partly composed of coal having already undergone a first partial carbonization. However, this method has for its only purpose to permit the use of coals other than coking coal for the production of coke. It does not remedy in any way the slowness of the heating action during coking, which slowness limits the daily output of the coking chambers. Furthermore, this process calls for relatively large quantities of binder, for example tar or pitch, in order to produce agglomerates suitable for high temperature full coking.

Finally, it is also known to produce semi-cokes by heating agglomerates of coal through direct contact with a heating gas, with a relatively quick rise of the temperature. However, this process cannot'be used, for obtaining fully degasified coke through coking at high temperature because coke obtained in this way is too fine and too brittle. 1

One object of my invention is to provide a coking plant capable of producing, per unit of time, a higher amount of coke than it was possible with prior methods and apparatus.

Another object is to obtain coke, and in particular, high quality coke, from fuels which up to now were not considered suitable for this purpose.

In accordance with my invention, I obtain cokes of high mechanical strength, suitable for metallurgical and other uses at high production rates by bringing unheated agglomerates or briquettes (containing less than 20% volatile materials and made from semi-cokes produced from natural or artificial coals) into direct contact with highly heated gas to cause an average temperature rise in the briquettes or agglomerates of.5 C. to 15 C. per minute.

it is particularly advantageous to make the agglomerates or briquettes chiefly of a semi-coke obtained from coal of an indefinite geological age (lignite, brown ,coals, sub-bituminous coal, high volatile bituminous coal, .B and C rank), or even charcoal from wood or peat, which semicoke is mixed with coking or swelling coal and with a binder such as tar or pitch and molded to form the agglomerates or briquettes.

:The rate of averagettemperature-rise 'ofthe agglom crates. to be coked under the aforesaid conditions depends further upon the dimensions of these agglomerates. For instance, in the ease of briquettes of a weight of 1,000 grams per briquette, it ranges from. 5 to 7.5 C. perrrninute. In the case of briquettes tof'a weight of .250 gr. per briquette, it ranges from 10 to 15 C. per minute.

Experience has-proved that simultaneous use of a percentage of volatile matter of the briquettes corresponding to the values above mentioned and "of such a quick rise of the temperature of the agglomerates, from an unheated or cold state, makes it possible to obtain cokes of high mechanical strength. The quick :rise .of temperature causes melting and cokingof the fusible matters contained in the agglomerates before these can decompose and be driven off as volatile vapors. The samephenomenonis the reason why I can make use of agglomerates containing but relativelysmall quantities of binder to produce cokes of high mechanical strength.

The coke obtained according to my invention has rem-arkable properties, and in particular its hardness, mechanical density and the uniformity of dimension of its elements, which corresponds to the dimensions of the agglomerates prior to undergoing the cokingtreatment. As a matter of fact, this coke, tested bytumbling the coke in a drum, resists breakage in' the proportion of to It can'be utilized for all kinds of purposes, for example for blast furnaces, cupola furnaces, for the production of watergas, etc. Concerning blast furnaces in particular, very satisfactory results were obtained with coke made according to my invention from agglomerates, the semi-coke of which had been obtained for example from lignite.

in foundries, the coke produced according to my invention gave better results than those obtained up to now with the best special foundry coke. As a matter of fact, the use of coke made according to my invention, without giving rise to an increase of fuel consumption, .made it possible to obtain a cast iron having physical qualifies superior to those of cast iron obtained with the best known special foundry coke. This result is probably due to the possibility of using, for producing coke according to my invention, non-coking coals of relatively recent geological-age, producing residues of a high capacity of reaction.

When agglomerates (briquettes or ovoids) of natural and/or'artificial coal arecoked by causing heating gas to flow directly through the mass of agglomerates to be coked, this gas leaves as a typical result of my invention the coke oven with a temperature of 750 to 850 C., i. e. still rather high so that it can be used in the distillation of coal fines or coal powder for the production of semicoke or for other purposes. .7

For a better understanding of. the present invention, reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig.1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical installation for producing coke in accordance with my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a modified installation forpracticing the invention.

Fig. 3 similarly shows still another installation according to my invention.

In accordance with the present invention, coke of-high quality can be produced from many types of normally non-coking coals by. suitably treating'such coals in a finely divided form. The finely divided coal is subjected to a preliminary distillation in direct contact with heated gas to bring the coal to a temperature of 300 C. to 550 C. and thereby drive off the volatiles and produce a semicoke having between'9 and 12% volatiles. 'It'is'p articularly important'with lignites and other-similar trials which have poor coking properties to reduce the volatile content at least down to 1 2%, as otherwise the coke produced therefrom is brittle and of low mechanical strength.

The semi-coke produced as described above is cooled V and is formed into. agglomerates or briquettes by mixing it with a small amount of binder such as pitch and a small amount of swelling type coal. Byway of example such agglomerates may be composed of about 80% semi-coke, 15% of finely ground swelling or coking coal and-about 5% of pitch. p 7

The briquettes or agglomerates are then introduced without preliminary heating, directly into a coking retort where highly heated gases (1,000 C. to l,250 C.) are brought into contact with the briquettes or agglomerates.

The flow of gases between the briquettes in the retort preferably is crosswise to the direction of movement of the briquettes so that they will be heated strongly and' the'binder and other volatiles into a coke-like material which seals the briquettes and prevents loss of the binder and other volatiles with the result that the carbon particles of the briquettes are bonded strongly together to produce coke of high mechanical strength and with a minimum ofcracking or shattering.

The drawings illustrate typical installations with which the method can be practiced.

Q The distillation apparatus T diagrammatically shown by Fig. l is typical of those which may be used for producing the semi-coke. Distillation takesplace in the apparatus T by direct contact of coal fines or coal powder with the heating gas/ This apparatus includes one or several chambers, for example two chambers 102 and 102" connected together in series, through which passes the stream of heating gas into which are injected at 193 the coal fines or powders to be distilled. These coal fines 'or powders are supplied from a tank VA; they are dried in a. dryer XA by means of a stream of hot gas from which they are separated in cyclone 118, after which they are conveyed through a pipe 119 to the coal fine inlet 103 of the element 102' of distillation apparatus T These fines or powders are carried along by the heating gas stream coming from coke oven A in which they are in suspension and they pass through the two' distillation chambers 102 and 192". Simultaneously with this, coal distillation takes place under the action of the sensible.

A portion of the semi-coke'thus.

heat of the heating gas. formed deposits at the bottom of chamber 192 'of distillation apparatus T whereas the remainder, carried along by the heating gas to the outside of thispchamber 1102f is separated from the gas within a cyclone orthe like 194. 7 7 1 This semi-coke is then cooled, preferably by introduca 7 Of course, in order to enable the gases to pass through The rapid increase in temperature apparently converts tion of agglomerates or of briquettes in a press 116 (Fig.

1). These agglomerates preferably consist of a mixture of the semi-cokes in question with finely ground swelling or coking coal and pitch, the total content of' volatile matter of this mixture being lower than 20%. .These agglomerates are then carried by a conveying system, for example an elevator 117, to the charging hopper of coke oven A.

Said coke oven A includes an outer shell 3, a vertical shaft 1 inside said shell and two horizontal partitions which divide'the space between said shaft 1 and said'shell 3 into two chambers for the passage of gases, to wit, an upper chamber and'a lower chamber. 7 The agglomerates are dropped at 2 into shaft: 1' and the coke leaves it at 7.

the material travelling downwardly through shaft 1, the

wall of said shaft, in the portions thereof located in the above mentioned chambers, is provided with apertures, for instance so as to be of grate-like structure, as conventionally shown'by the small rectangles visible in Fig. l and which are'designated by reference numerals 5 and 6 for the upper chamber. a I

The coking zone of oven A is constituted by this upper chamber. The heating gas stream (at a temperature be -tween about 1000C. and 1250 C.) enters this chamber on the right hand side thereof (for instance from a regenerator such as O as it will be hereinafter described). r This gas stream, after passing through the mass of age glomerates which are travelling downwardly through the portion of shaft 1 located in said upper chamber, flows out (according tothe path shown by the dotted lines) toward the left to pass into conduit 103. A

As already stated, according'to my invention, the flow rate of the heating gas stream passing through the coking zone of oven A- and that of the stream of briquettes or agglomerates passing in shaft 1 through said zone are adjustedso that said briquettes, which are introduced at 2 without. preheating, are heated, during their passage through said coking zone (upper chamber of oven A), at a rate of 5 C. to 15 C. per minute, whereas the a temperature of the heating gas stream drops from 1000 1250 C. on the right hand side of the upper chamber of 'oven A down to 750850 C. in conduit 1153 (of course it should be well understood that these values are average values). p 7 V Owing to this quick rise of the temperature of the briquettes or other agglomerates in the coking zone of coke oven A, the coke output per square meter of the coking chamber area is equal to several times the 'best yields yet obtained up to now; With the best vertical coking plants known, up to 'now, in which the agglomen' ates. pass continually through a coking chamber heated from the outside, and cooling chambers for direct gascontact, an output of 20-2 2 kgs. of agglomerates per square meter'of coking chamber area and per hour, was the maximum that could be obtained, whereas, in an oven as shown by the drawing and working according to myin obtained.

ing it into a cooling gaseous stream, as shown'by Fig. 1.

the semi-coke is cooled and the gaseous stream from blower 1o: gets heated. Upon leaving this heat interchanger L, thecooled semi-coke isfseparated from the carrier gas in a cyclone or'the like 115, whereas the gas;

heated up in L by the heat of the semi-coke, is advantageously utilized fordrying in dryer XA thecoal fines or powder. from tank VA to be subjected later-on to low tem r t re ist l a srsr l vention, yields of to" ZOO kgs. of'agg'lorneratesper square meter of coking'chamber area and "per hour are With lm y in ve ntion, I therefore obtain, for the same even measurements, a daily output of wholly gas-free coke from seven to nineitim'es greater than the yield of the best plants known up tonow, 7

Another advantage lies in the fact that aplant made according torny invention, using no silica bricks, can be stopped and restarted at any time. Restarting cantake place immediately if theheating of the regenerators has been maintained; If not, restarting necessitates adelay a of 10 to ,12 days necessary for re -heating the said'genera tors, which is an extremely short time as compared with those necessitated forrestarting plants known .at the; present ,time. I V

' Asa rule, it is advantageous as in the examplefabove Theseigases enter the apparatus T at 169 and leave it afl'id so that heating truly takes place in countercurrent fashion.

described, to .pre-dry the coal powders or coal fines before introducing them into the low temperature distillation plant. This drying, which may be carried out in any appropriate manner, is preferably performed in devices through which the coal tines or coal powder are carried along by a carrier gas.

In the plant shown by Fig. l, the carrier gas circulating through dryer XA flows through the following closed circuit: Blower 105, heat interchanger L where the gas is heated by the semi-coke circulating therewith, cyclone 115, where the gas is separated from said semi-coke, then dryer XA, cyclone 118 and once more blower 105.

Another drying device for coal fines or coal powder is shown by Fig. 2. In this case, the coal to be dried is also introduced into a gaseous stream circulating in a closed circuit and driven by blower M. The mixture of this gaseous stream and coal powder or coal fines to be dried passes through the tubes of a dryer XA', externally heated by a heating fluid which also passes through this dryer XA. pon leaving XA', the now dried coal fines and coal powder are separated from the gaseous carrier how by means of a plurality of cyclone type separators 118'. This gaseous carrier is returned from separator 118 to blower M as shown by the dotted lines.

Every time coal fines or coal powder are dried in a carrier gas circulating in a closed circuit, the steam and the excess of gas formed by this drying process have to be withdrawn from the carrier gas at N (Fig. l and Fig. 2).

Finally, it should be noted that the heating up of the portion of the coking gas that is reintroduced into coke oven A, besides being performed by direct internal combustion, may be obtained, as shown in the plants of Figs. l and 2, by means of two regenerators (such as that shown at O) inserted alternately in the flow of gas to be heated up and in a fiow of fluid intended to heat up the regenerators. The coking gas to be heated up passes successively through one of these regenerators O, coke oven A, the distillation apparatus, then a pitch separator P, a cooler Q, a blower R and possibly other apparatus intended to purify the gas and to recover any recoverable matters contained therein. After passing through all these apparatus, a portion of the gas, forming the surplus, is with drawn from the Circuit at S, whereas either the whole of the remainder returns to the regenerator (Fig. 2) or only a portion of this remainder returns to the regenerator and the other portion flows to the lower chamber la of coke oven A (Fig. 1). In this latter case, the two gaseous streams join together before re-entering the distillation apparatus T the gaseous stream which flows through said lower chamber 1; being heated by interchange of heat with the coke travelling through the central shaft of said chamber and which is thus cooled.

I may advantageously obtain low temperature distillation of coal fines or coal powder by injecting them into a portion of the gas coming from this distillation apparatus and circulating in a closed circuit. This gas, after leaving the distillation apparatus, and being separated from the semi-coke produced by distillation, is freed from its recoverable lay-products, such as pitch or tar and finally heated by means of an external source. This source is totally or partly constituted by the sensible heat of the gas coming from the directly heated coke oven.

Thus, in the construction illustrated by Fig. 2, coal fines or coal powders from separator 11% are injected at I into a low temperature distillation apparatus T to mix with a stream of hotgas which enters said apparatus at 1% and leaves it at 107. The coal fines or coal powders xed with this .gas stream are carried along through the es ill of apparatus T These pipes are externally ted by' gases coming from coke oven A through pipe The gas stream that leaves at 107, enriched with the low'tem'perature distillation gas-and which carries. along the semi-'cokeforme'd-during distillation, passes through cyclone 112, where semi coke is separated from this gas stream. The gas, thus freed from semi-coke, fiows through a cooler V acting at the same time as a pitch separator, and through a light-oil separator W, a blower B which returns a portion of this distillation gas through pipe 113 into distillation apparatus T and sends the other portion through pipe 114 into a gas tank.

According to another feature of my invention which may be used separately, the heating of coal fines or coal powder is ensured both in countercurrent fashion and in equi-current fashion'at the same time in the low temperature distillation apparatus T For this purpose, as shown by Fig. 2, the portion of the distillation gas re-introduced into the distillation apparatus at 106 is heated, so that the coal fines or coal powder injected at i into the distillation gas immediately undergo a rise of temperature produced by the sensible heat of this gas, thus ensuring an equicurrent heating, whereas the coking gas supplies through a 108, 109 the indirect countercurrent heating in the abovedescribed manner.

In order to pre-heat the portion of the distillation gas that enters at 106 distillation apparatus T 1 preferably utilize the heat of the coke of the lower part do of coke oven A. For this purpose, the distillation gas collected through pipe 113 is made to flow through part la of said chamber in order to heat the gas by contact thereof with the coke, whereas this coke is cooled at the same time. The gas is thus preheated to a temperature of about 300 C.

It should further be noted that the coking gas leaving coke oven A at K is used for the external heating of the pipes 111 of distillation apparatusT -and has, on "entering this apparatus T a temperature of about 700"-800 C.

The surplusgas discharged through the pipe 114 is a power gas having a heating power ranging from 3,60010 3,500 kilogram calories per cubic meter. This gas may be utilized as it is, or, if the distillation gas is obtained separately, both gases may be mixed to form an illuminating gas having a heating power ranging from 4,000

04,500 calories.

Fig. 3 shows 'an installation according to my invention chiefiy characterized in that the heating gas passing through coking oven A is made to flow transversely to the direction of travel of the stream of agglomerates now in one direction -now in the opposite one.

In this case also, the agglomerates to be treated are first subjected to quick coking by passing through a, layer of these agglomerates present in vertical coking shaftor chamber 1 heating gases which flow in through the apertures of one of the vertical walls of chamber 1 and out through the opposed wall thereof. The agglomerates :to he coked enter shaft 1 at its upp r end and leave it, after they have been fully coked, at the lower end thereof. As above indicated, heating must be sufiiciently fast to obtain very quickly, on every agglomerate, a coked crust of a relatively high mechanical resistance. The fully coked agglomerates will be constantly removed at the bottom of coking chamber 1.

This heating gas, which fiows through the cokingshaft 1 of the coking oven A is constitutedby a portion of the gases obtained by coking itself, which portion'is made to flow in a closed circuit, so that it passes successively through a dust separator 22, a pitch separator P, a cooler Q, a blower R, possibly a second cooler Q, a benzol separator 26, a gas reservoir 28 and a reheating device constituted, for instance, by two regen'erators O, "O alternately brought into play and'from which the re-heated gas is reintroduced into the coking furnace.

In this way, I recover all the by-products contained in the coking gas and I may withdraw from reservoir '28 a the capacity of the coking chamber.

a and about 850 Cyandcooling said briquettes;

periodically changing the direction of the heating gases that pass through the agglomerates'in coking chamber 1, whereby the gases flow through these products once for instance irom leftto right and then from right to left, again from left to right, and so on. i r

This operation is advantageous because the agglomerates to be coked should be heated in a manner as uniform as possible over the whole Width of the coking chamber. This condition determines the'maximum drop of temperature that can be undergone by the heating gases when passing through the mass of agglomerates to be coked and,

consequently, the maximum width of coking chamber 1. When the heating gases pass through the mass of agglomerates always in the same direction and if the maximum admissible drop of temperature of the heating gases is supposed to be about 200 C. (for instance from 1 000 C. to 800 C.), the width of chamber 1 should not exceed .values ranging from 400 to 800 mm. If, on the contrary, the direction in which the gases flow through the coking chamber is changed periodically, for instance every ten minutes, the width of this chamber can be approximately doubled, i. c. this width could, in the example that is being considered, reach values ranging from 800 to 1200mm. In other words, it will be possible to double The coking chamber shown by Fig. 3 is arranged to permit periodical changing of the direction of flow of the heating gases which pass through'the mass to be coked.

' For this purpose,.it includes, on either sideof chamber 1, two inlets 11 and 12 for the heating gas, which communi- "cate respectively with regenerators O and OT. Furthermore, it includes, also on either side of chamber l, two heating gas outlets 13 and 14, both connected to conduit "15, which convey the exhaust gases from the coking'oven to dust separator 22. I further provide, in each of the heating gas inlets and outlets, control means constituted for instance by mere shutters 16, 17, 18 and 19, which enable the heating gases either to enter through 11 into the coking oven and to leave it through14, after having passed through coking chamber 1 in a left to right direction, or to enter through 12 into the coking oven and to leave it through 13, after having passed through coking chamber 1 in a right to left direction. is advantageously. coupled with that of the control means provided at 20 to send the heating gases Withdrawn from,

reservoir 28 alternately into regenerator O and into regenerator 0'. I thus produce simultaneously, for instance every ten minutes, both a change in the regenerator in service (the other one being thus given time to be reheated) and in the direction of flow of the heating gases through the mass to be coked.

, While I haveQin the'above description, disclosed What I deem to be practical and efficient embodiments of my invention, it should be well understood that I' do not wish to be limited thereto as changes might be made in the arrangement; disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of therpresent invention as definedrin the following claims.

What I claim is: i

l. The method of producing metallurgical coke from briquettes consisting of semi-coke, a' small percent of swellingtype coal and a binder, with not more than 20% "volatile components, comprising advancing a stream of 'said briquettes without'substantial pre-heating in one direction, directing a stream of heating gas through said stream of said briquettes toicause the gas to come into direct contact with each briquette, said heating gasbe'ing heated to a temperature between'aboutLOOO" C. and I250 C., to heatsaid briquettesat an average temperazture rise between about 5 C. and 15 C. per minute to fa coking temperature of about 950f' C., to convert the briquettesto coke while the meantemperatureof the con tacting heating gas'is reduced to between about 750 'C.

Operation of these shutters comprises heat-treating a mass of finely divided carbonaceous material to semi-coke the same, mixing thesemicoked material with a finely divided, swelling type coal and a binder, shaping'the mixture into relatively uniformly sized agglomerates containing less than twenty percent of volatile substance, advancing said agglomerates in an initially substantially unheated state in a continuous stream-flowing in one direction, directing a stream of heating gas at a temperature between about l,000.-C. and about l,250 C., through said stream of agglomerates in direct contact with the agglomeratestherein and transversely to said direction of movement of the stream of agglomerates, the rate of flow of said stream of agglomerates being such thatthey are heated at an average temperature rise of about 5 C. to ,15" C. perminute to 7 about 950 C. after passage of the said heating gas stream therethrough While the mean temperature of the contacting heating gas is reduced to between about 750 C. and

about 850 C. and utilizing the said reduced temperature material briquettes containing less" than twenty percent of volatile'substance to thereby coke said briquettes, said gas flowing around and between the briquettes in direct contact therewith regulating the rate of travel of said briquette stream and the rate of ,flow of said gas stream to directly heat the briquettes from about ordinary tem- 'perature .at'an average temperature rise between, about 5 C. and 15 C. per minute to about 950 C; and reduce the mean temperature of said gas stream after its passage through said briquette stream to between about 750 C. and about 850 C., then heating With the said reduced temperature gaseous stream a mass of coal of a size sub stantially smaller than said briquettes to thereby remove only a part of its volatile content and to convert it into semi-coke, regulating the rate of flow of said reduced temperature gaseous stream to devolatilize the said coal ''at a rate by weight substantially equivalent to the'rate V of coking of said briquettes by the first-named heating gas stream, shaping the semi-coke thus obtained into briquettes containing less than 20% of volatile materials and supplying the said briquettes thus formed and with- "out preliminary heating to the said stream-of briquettes 1 direction oftravel thereof.

' for coking by said first-named heating gas stream,

4: A method of making metallurgical coke according I [to claim 3, in which said first-named heatinggas stream passes through said briquette stream transversely to the p 5. A method of making metallurgical'coke according to claim 3, in which said coal is treated by the reduced temperature gaseous stream by direct contact therewith.

6. A method of making metallurgical coke according to claim 3, in which said coal is treated by the reduced temperature gaseous "stream= through 'indirect heating therefrom, said coalbeing conducted countercurrently to' i said reduced temperature gaseous stream. a a

' 7. The method according ,to claim 2 in which the flow of heating gas is directed alternately in one direction and in the opposite one through said stream of agglomerates. J

8. A method of producing metallurgical coke which comprises heat-treating a mass of finely divided carbonaceous material to semi-coke. the same, mixing the semi-coked material with a finely-divided swelling type coal and a binder, shaping the mixture into relatively uniform size 'agglomcrates containing less thanuahout 20% of volatile substance, advancing said agglomerates 1 r in an initially substantiallyunheated state in a continu-' ous stream flowing in one direction, bringing the agglom! jerates in the flowing stream into direct. contact with a highly-heated predominantly gaseous heating medium, the rate of flow of said stream of agglomerates and the temperature of the heating medium in direct contact therewith being such that they are heated at an average temperature rise of about 5 C. to 15 C. per minute to increase the temperature of the agglomerates to about 950 C. to convert them into briquettes of metallurgical coke, and cooling said briquettes.

Knox Aug. 20, 1901 Grifiin Dec. 1, 1908 10 Smith Aug. 20, 1918 Rodman Oct. 29, 1918 Wilcox Oct. 28, 1919 Groves et a1 Apr. 15, 1924 Keigley et al Aug. 24, 1926 Hobson Jan. 11, 1927 Runge May 8, 1928 Hubman Nov. 6, 1928 Koppers July 22, 1930 Hufi July 17, 1951 Shea Apr. 22, 1952 Hemminger Nov. 25, 1952 Phinney Oct. 6, 1953 

3. THE METHOD OF MAKING METALLURGICAL COKE WHICH COMPRISES PASSING A STREA, OF HEATING GAS AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT 1,000*C. AND ABOUT 1,250*C. THROUGH A TRAVELLING STREAM OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNHEATED CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL BRIQUETTES CONTAINING LESS THAN TWENTY PERCENT OF VOLATILE SUBSTANCE TO THEREBY COKE SAID BRIQUETTES, SAID GAS FLOWING AROUND AND BETWEEN THE BRIQUETTES IN DIRECT CONTACT THEREWITH REGULATING THE RAATE OF TRAVEL OF SAID BRIQUETTE STREAM AND THE RATE OF FLOW OF SAID GAS STREAM TO DIRECTLY HEAT THE BRIQUETTES FROM ABOUT ORDINARY TEMPERATURE AT AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE RISE BETWEEN ABOUT 5*C. AND 15*C. PER MINUTE TO ABOUT 950*C. AND REDUCE THE MEAN TEMPERATURE OF SAID GAS STREAM AFTER ITS PASSAGE THROUGH SAID BRIQUETTE STREAM TO BETWEEN ABOUT 750* C. AND ABOUT 850*C., THEN HEATING WITH THE SAID REDUCED TEMPERATURE GASEOUS STREAM A MASS OF COAL OF A SIZE SUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER THAN SAID BRIQUETTES TO THEREBY REMOVE ONLY A PART OF ITS VOLATILE CONTENT AND TO CONVERT IT INTO SEMI-COKE, REGULATING THE RATE OF FLOW OF SAID REDUCED TEMPERATURE GASEOUS STREAM TO DEVOLATILIZE THE SAID COAL AT A RATE BY WEIGHT SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT TO THE RATE OF COKING OF SAID BRIQUETTES BY THE FIRST-NAMED HEATING GAS STREAM, SHAPING THE SEMI-COKE THUS OBTAINED INTO BRIQUETTES CONTAINING LESS THAN 50% OF VOLATILE MATERIALS AND SUPPLYING THE SAID BRIQUETTES THUS FORMED AND WITHOUT PRELIMINARY HEATING TO THE SAID STREAM OF BRIQUETTES FOR COKING BY SAID FIRST-NAMED HEATING GAS STREAM.
 8. A METHOD OF PRODUCING METALLURGICAL COKE WHICH COMPRISES HEAT-TREATING A MASS OF FINELY DIVIDED CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL TO SEMI-COKE THE SAME, MIXING THE SEMI-COKED MATERIAL WITH A FINELY-DIVIDED SWELLING TYPE COAL AND A BINDER, SHAPING THE MIXTURE INTO RELATIVELY UNIFORM SIZE AGGLOMERATES CONTAINING LESS THAN ABOUT 20% OF VOLATILE SUBSTANCE, ADVANCING SAID AGGLOMERATES IN AN INITIALLY SUBSTANTIALLY UNHEATED STATE IN A CONTINUOUS STREAM FLOWING IN ONE DIRECTION, BRINGING THE AGGLOMERATES IN THE FLOWING STREAM INTO DIRECT CONTACT WITH A HIGHLY-HEATED PREDOMINANTLY GASEOUS HEATING MEDIUM, THE RATE OF FLOW OF SAID STREAM OF AGGLOMERATES AND THE TEMPERATURE OF THE HEATING MEDIUM IN DIRECT CONTACT THEREWITH BEING SUCH THAT THEY ARE HEATED AT AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE RISE OF ABOUT 5*C. TO 15*C. PER MINUTE TO INCREASE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AGGLOMERATES TO ABOUT 950*C. TO CONVERT THEM INTO BRIQUETTES OF METALLURGICAL COKE, AND COOLING SAID BRIQUETTES. 